Observe a laboratory activity or base your answer on past visits. How does your CT conduct a typical laboratory activity? How does he or she open the activity and organize student groups? How do students learn what they're expected to do during the period? Reflect on your reading about inquiry and your experience with the NECAP inquiry task. How did the laboratory activity you observe prepare students for the type of activities that might show up on the NECAP in the future? What inquiry elements would you strengthen? What science practices do you want to stress when you're teaching?
Observation:
On days that my CT has a lab planned, he has all lab benches set up with the necessary materials before students come to class. Once students arrive he usually leads into the lab with a worksheet that pertains to the concepts in the experiment. After he warms the students up with the lead-in worksheet, he hands out the lab packets and the manual that includes the procedure. He quickly goes through the steps and then he lets students get to work. When I asked him how the groups were assigned, he said he allowed them to pick their own partners at the beginning of the year and as long as they work well together and stay on task, they can keep their same partners. If they cannot conduct themselves responsibly and get their work done then he will switch the groups around. The lab manual and packet provide all the information that students need in order to do the experiment. My CT walks around the classroom supervising the students and assisting students who need help. Once the students are done with the experiment they clean up their lab benches then sit at their desks and fill in the answers in the lab packet. The lab packet includes pre-lab questions, data and results tables, post-lab conclusion questions, and real world connection questions. Students turn in their labs at the end of the period if they are done or they finish them for homework.
Reflection:
While I was watching this lab activity take place, it was clear that students didn't really have to know much of anything except for how to follow the procedure. All of the set up and preparation was done for them. They simply had to carry out their procedure and fill in the data that the lab packet requested. My CT answered any questions they had without making them trying to figure it out first. I felt like the lab was very rushed and systematic without very much thinking involved at all. After reading the inquiry article, it was very easy to see the difference between inquiry and typical high school lab activities. In inquiry-based activities, students learn how to answer their own questions using higher level thinking skills. they have to apply what they know to try and figure out how to solve the problem. If I were to try to make this lab experience more inquiry based I would start by asking students probing questions to help promote higher level thinking. I would also answer less questions and encourage students to think about it and try to figure it out for themselves. I think one of my CT's mistakes was being too quick to answer students questions. Many of the questions students asked could have been easily figured out if they were given the time to struggle and come up with a solution. When I am teaching, I would like to stress how important it is for students to make discoveries and learn how to make sense of specific science concepts through experimentation. I don't want students to mindlessly go through experiments and fill in answers to questions because it becomes meaningless and the overall intention of helping students understand the concept is lost.
Observation/Reflection #3: A Matter of Style
Observe a laboratory activity or base your answer on past visits. How does your CT conduct a typical laboratory activity? How does he or she open the activity and organize student groups? How do students learn what they're expected to do during the period? Reflect on your reading about inquiry and your experience with the NECAP inquiry task. How did the laboratory activity you observe prepare students for the type of activities that might show up on the NECAP in the future? What inquiry elements would you strengthen? What science practices do you want to stress when you're teaching?Observation:
On days that my CT has a lab planned, he has all lab benches set up with the necessary materials before students come to class. Once students arrive he usually leads into the lab with a worksheet that pertains to the concepts in the experiment. After he warms the students up with the lead-in worksheet, he hands out the lab packets and the manual that includes the procedure. He quickly goes through the steps and then he lets students get to work. When I asked him how the groups were assigned, he said he allowed them to pick their own partners at the beginning of the year and as long as they work well together and stay on task, they can keep their same partners. If they cannot conduct themselves responsibly and get their work done then he will switch the groups around. The lab manual and packet provide all the information that students need in order to do the experiment. My CT walks around the classroom supervising the students and assisting students who need help. Once the students are done with the experiment they clean up their lab benches then sit at their desks and fill in the answers in the lab packet. The lab packet includes pre-lab questions, data and results tables, post-lab conclusion questions, and real world connection questions. Students turn in their labs at the end of the period if they are done or they finish them for homework.
Reflection:
While I was watching this lab activity take place, it was clear that students didn't really have to know much of anything except for how to follow the procedure. All of the set up and preparation was done for them. They simply had to carry out their procedure and fill in the data that the lab packet requested. My CT answered any questions they had without making them trying to figure it out first. I felt like the lab was very rushed and systematic without very much thinking involved at all. After reading the inquiry article, it was very easy to see the difference between inquiry and typical high school lab activities. In inquiry-based activities, students learn how to answer their own questions using higher level thinking skills. they have to apply what they know to try and figure out how to solve the problem. If I were to try to make this lab experience more inquiry based I would start by asking students probing questions to help promote higher level thinking. I would also answer less questions and encourage students to think about it and try to figure it out for themselves. I think one of my CT's mistakes was being too quick to answer students questions. Many of the questions students asked could have been easily figured out if they were given the time to struggle and come up with a solution. When I am teaching, I would like to stress how important it is for students to make discoveries and learn how to make sense of specific science concepts through experimentation. I don't want students to mindlessly go through experiments and fill in answers to questions because it becomes meaningless and the overall intention of helping students understand the concept is lost.